


dissimilarity of the elements

by mosaicos



Category: Free!
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-05
Updated: 2015-03-05
Packaged: 2018-03-16 10:01:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3484061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mosaicos/pseuds/mosaicos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin thinks about himself and his two quirky friends; he knows they mean the world to him, but they are in no way the most popular guys at school, and neither is Rin. That’s because they’re all strange kids who have a passion for swimming that surpasses any other hobby that they might have or which might help them connect easier with the rest of their peers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	dissimilarity of the elements

**Author's Note:**

> I WENT FULL METAPHOR HERE anyway the main idea was this: FIRE is primarily hot and secondarily dry EARTH is primarily dry and secondarily cold WATER is primarily cold secondarily wet.... which would link like this with the OT3: - hot RIN dry - dry MAKOTO cold - cold HARU wet - , thus drawing makoto as a middle ground for the differences between haru and rin. it feels dumb that i feel i have to explain this to make sense lol but just a little background on what i was going for, what with some references in character i've thrown throughout to complement their interactions in the fire/earth/water way.

Rin stretches his arms above himself, stares at his hands, at his fingers, at the dryness at the edges, considers how he needs to trim down his nails soon, sighs in frustration, and slams a pillow into his face. He lets out another frustrated groan as he turns onto himself, face down on his bed, still hiding on his pillow.

An annoying hard buzz against his desk drags Rin out of his slump. He turns his head in time, a wide smile on his face as he kicks blankets and pillows out of the way, reaching over to his phone and unlocking the device.

**makoto 08:43am**  
hello rin are we still going out?

_What the hell kind of question is that?_ , he thinks excitedly. 

**me 08:44am**  
of course. we’re meeting at 10am, right? is that enough time to get haru out of the tub?

He has somehow managed to hide the excitement he feels coursing through him by writing a level-headed text message in reply. It’s one minute later that he realises that he basically replied _seconds_ from Makoto’s message, and it was in plain sight in their conversation. Fuck! 

**makoto 08:47am**  
lol yeah i think it should be! he’s actually really looking forward to it

_Holy shit._ Haru, excited about something _not_ related to swimming?

**makoto 08:48am**  
he kept asking about it last night and making sure we had our tickets printer out  
**makoto 08:48am**  
printed* we’ll meet at the train station?  
**me 08:50am**  
yeah, as planned. tell haru to calm down. i’ll pay you for the ticket then.  
**makoto 08:55am**  
don’t sweat it! and sounds great see you soon!!

Rin can hardly contain his excitement, accidentally kicking his chair off its legs and causing a chaos of noise against the wall. He can hear his mother faintly yelling at him to knock it off from her room, and Rin only barely sticks his head out into the hallway to shout back an apology.

It’s the first time since their relay together that Rin gets the chance to hang out with _just_ Haru and Makoto. It’s his first chance at making amends; it’s his first chance (of hopefully many to come) for him to show his appreciation towards his friends—towards everything they had to put up with upon his return from Australia earlier that year.

He would make amends with Nagisa, and later Rei, some other time. He owed a different, personal kind of apology to the two boys he shared classrooms with a little over four years ago.

Rin needed to make this day count.

(It’s not like he rehearsed how this day would pan out, or anything.)

***

He always got along great with Makoto.

Even when Makoto was shy and the type of kid who would hide from Rin’s outgoing spirit, drive, and passion, the other had always stuck through with him. It wasn’t even a matter of Makoto doing so for Haru’s sake—but because they actually had a connection. 

Standing on the train—one hand holding on to the hanging straps to keep his balance—Rin is the physically passive commuter with thoughts streaming through a hundred miles a minute, lost in the music blaring from his earphones. The only sign that he’s on the move and has a lot of energy running inside him is that he chooses to ignore the number of free seats around him.

Rin thinks about himself and his two quirky friends; he knows they mean the world to him, but they are in no way the most popular guys at school, and neither is Rin. That’s because they’re all strange kids who have a passion for swimming that surpasses any other hobby that they might have or which might help them connect easier with the rest of their peers. 

Connections are strange like that, bonds found in the most unlikely of places. That is particularly true in how close he feels to Haru, too, despite how they’re both much like oil and water—getting on each other’s nerves, pushing buttons, being defensive about pretty much everything said.

It makes him laugh under his breath, that low _kukukuku_ giggle, at the thought that Makoto really usually is the one standing between them to calm down their tempers. 

He really has got to thank Makoto for this opportunity, though; had it not been for the kind-hearted boy, this outing would never have been planned for. Rin had been unable to find the time or place to bring up how much he wanted to hang out with just the two of them, and words came up too hot and dry when he did try. Makoto eased out the template for him, posed the question as a suggestion, sure of himself and with confidence; presented it as something all three of them could benefit from—even the cold and defensive Haru.

“Aa-aaah!” 

Rin exits the train, huffing outloud, despite the people shuffling by him. His heart is beating erratic and he feels embarrassed and nervous for reasons completely unrelated to his outburst. He’s feeling too much again and his insides can’t stop vibrating uncomfortably.

**me 09:55am**  
yo. i’m here.  
**makoto 09:57am**  
was just going to text you!

Heart—

**makoto 09:57am**  
we’ll be there in 2 more minutes

—beat.

***

Their day out together takes them to the Tottori Aquarium, opening for the first time during the summer after a long time of reconstruction and restructuring. It was Haru’s birthday two weeks ago, and this is Makoto and Rin’s joint belated present to him.

It seems almost perfect that Haru is wearing a shirt with Iwatobi-chan’s face up front. Haru did also, very solemnly, stop Makoto and Rin before leaving the train station and handed them both (again, very solemnly) an Iwatobi-chan keychain each. 

Makoto spared Rin a look the same time Rin averted his eyes towards the tallest teen, and he couldn’t tell if he wanted to be embarrassed because Makoto was embarrassed, or because Haru tended to be a big embarrassing idiot at the most inopportune of times (he was even smiling quietly, to himself, admiring his carved creations, as if he couldn’t get enough of them). 

Suddenly, Rin realises that he’s been stuck into a parent role alongside Makoto, as the two of them have inadvertently (or perhaps purposely, _what the hell Makoto?_ ) brought Haru to a place he would _love_ to go to anytime, as much as he would love going to the pool. The aquarium. 

Well, whatever, it was Haru’s birthday present, after all.

“...thanks, uh. We better go if we want to avoid a line to get in.”

All he could do was take the keychain and pocket it, it seeming the right thing to do as he mirrored Makoto’s movements. Haru seemed to keep the same pleased expression he had when he presented the keychain to them and that, at least, is a point Rin can count in his favor.

***

The aquarium is packed as was to be expected, but it’s not overly so. They managed to get in with minimal waiting, amiable conversation keeping them busy, predictions about what they thought they would see upon entering plaguing their more conspiratorial whispers (with Haru looking serious and adding his own hopes and dreams into the mix: “pools they could dive in and swim across the entire aquarium in” being his favourite thought, and Rin was also guilty of thinking that would be cool as hell).

But reality didn’t quite meet their expectations of an indoor all-around pool for them to swim in, but the displays were enough to make them settle for what they were being offered instead.

The trio spent an incredible amount of time at each exhibit, trying to find all the fish and creatures mentioned on the plaques at the side of the protective glass, looking up any unfamiliar fish on their phones to make their seeking easier, and spending the majority of the time at the feeding tank for the rays and baby sharks. Makoto even freaked out and nearly had a panic attack when he accidentally touched the glass with the jellyfish floating in and Rin had dryly mentioned "are they dead", which made Haru stare contemplatively at the unmoving creatures, as Makoto kept hissing and near-sobbing at them "no! no! no!". (They started moving a few seconds later and Rin couldn't hold back his laughter, even as Haru kicked his shin and tried to console Makoto "stop crying, it's embarrassing, mind my shirt"; it only made Rin lose it all the more.) Haru seemed more interested in the area where all the small sea turtles were at, however, and they spent an awful long time there too, despite Rin complaining that the turtles were doing _nothing_! different! from five minutes ago! and they were a door! away! from the otters display! (Makoto placated him greatly, asking him for patience.)

The otter display really was the thing to help with Rin’s mood, spiraled onto annoyance throughout their time spent staring at turtles. They were greatly animated, and Rin even got to feed them chunks of watermelon. Makoto had been hesitant about putting his hand anywhere close to their mouths but fed the female otter _once_ , whereas Haru flat out refused to take part in Rin’s favoured activity of the day.

It wasn’t long before they reached the cafeteria, and both Rin and Haru’s moods had soured throughout their exchange over whether the turtles or the otters had been the best. Makoto refused to get into the argument and skipped ahead to look at what meals were being offered.

Rin and Haru were left to fall back on the queue, holding their empty trays (plus one for Makoto) and leaning against the railing as they moved slowly.

Emotion was palpable in the silence.

“...I suppose the otters were fun.”

Which is a statement that does, actually, catch Rin by surprise. Haru giving in first? Unheard of. Then again, it was one of the first and only times he’s been alone with Haru after an argument, and it had been Haru who offered him a hand to swim with them again, during the relay competition.

“The turtles were cute when they dipped into the water. I guess.”

There was something going on here which confused Rin. He felt embarrassed, almost guilty, at the thought that Haru had decided to be flexible for once—for his sake. He felt like he was depriving himself of something, yet here he was, admitting an agreement with the guy he kept knocking heads with. It’s as if Haru’s words, honest as they were, quenched the raging fire in him urging him to fight; all which was left was his face heating up and tears stinging at his eyes at the thought that this is one of many stupid fights that don’t mean the end of his friendship with a guy he has admired for so long.

Makoto returns before any other words can be exchanged, and everything returns to normal: Haru sticks to seeming apathetic but paying attention to his surroundings and Rin roars back into being animated as Makoto lists out the different available meals with his fingers.

All three of them end up with a different fish sandwich and chips and a soda.

Makoto sits between them in the booth, and something inside Rin stirs. He had been wondering if any of the two would have sat beside him, or if they would have stuck together like they always did, marking that plain distance between them and himself. It was a pleasant surprise, needless to say, to find that there was no “you and us”—but just, “us”. 

They ate mostly in silence, Makoto wondering where they should go next, as Haru procured the map of the aquarium he had gotten at the entrance, while Rin offered his expert opinion on the exhibits and even made a few comparisons with the aquarium he had frequented when in Australia.

It’s later on, when they’re done eating and walking down a tunneled-path underwater, under the glow of dark blues and purples and magenta, that Makoto poses a question that is almost too much for Rin to think it to be true.

“Rin, will you ever tell us about Australia?”

Properly, he means. That’s what he must be asking for—a detailed recount, not just bits and pieces under a storm of tears and sobs cluttered in his throat. 

It’s quite clear that Haru is listening, even if his head is turned to the side, and Rin wants to punch the stupid dolphin hat right off his head for making him want to laugh. Going through the store after eating had been a huge mistake, and Haru had gone straight for the hats.  


“—yeah, it’s not…”

He doesn’t feel quite prepared to talk about it, yet. But the words come easier this time.

“It wasn’t that bad. I just missed you guys.”

His eyes prickle with tears again, and he _knows_ Makoto is looking at him with a sad expression and he _knows_ that Haru has turned his gaze to him, unsure of what to do or say. It feels stupid to have blurted something out like that, gruff and almost accusatory—and for what? He’s not sure he knows the answer to that.

But before Rin can even think of apologising, a warm hand rests on his back, comforting.

“We missed you too, Rin.”

They’ve stopped walking, a shark swimming calmly and slowly above them, and while it’s Makoto’s hand on his back, Haru is pretty attentive in keeping his eyes on Rin; there’s worry in them, and he feels a fool for crying at those words. 

“I’m sorry—” _for crying, for being a mess, for treating you like shit when I came back, for not listening, for forcing Haru to swim, for ignoring Makoto, for leaving_ “I’m—s-sorry…”

Makoto spends the next couple of minutes cooing Rin while rubbing his back soothingly, while Haru holds on to the banister, looking up front at the ocean life before them. 

“You’re back now. Let’s do our best from now on.”

He can’t tell whether Makoto or Haru said that, but he has a feeling the both of them might have.

***

He knows there’s a lot he has yet to know about what happened between his leaving to Australia and his return. He knows he’s not the only one with a story to tell of the years in between, and he wants Haru and Makoto to tell him about it properly, without making it a pretty tale and without skipping details. If he did something wrong, he wants to know what it was, so he can start making amends; he wants to be there for his friends as much as he wants them to be there for him.

—but they have a lot of time to get to that point. 

The day goes by faster than expected, and soon it’s sunset, twilight colouring the skies in different hues all over. 

Haru speaks first.

“I had fun.”

Haru stops, looking up, and smiling, as if wanting to remember how the sky looked like when he remembers this memory; like he wants to remember how the sky contrasts against his friends’ profiles. 

“I’m glad you did, Haru. —Rin, you had fun too, right?”

That makes him laugh; trust Makoto to act as an intermediary. “Sure did! We should do this again sometime. Perhaps to an amusement park? Ah, there’s still that old arcade in Iwatobi isn’t there? We should go back, like old times!”

Haru simply nods, while Makoto agrees enthusiastically. 

They were so different, the three of them. 

“By the way, Haru—you look fucking ridiculous.”

Rin flicks the dolphin hat still sitting on Haru’s head, startling him, while Makoto snorts into a hand. 

(Apparently they could really just go back to how they were before, as simple as that.)

***

**me 21:01pm**  
got home. today was fun, thanks.  
 **makoto 21:33pm**  
sorry haru was helping me put the twins to sleep! we had fun too!  
 **makoto 21:35pm**  
he’s gone home now, he says he’s tired. we should do this again some other time  
 **me 21:39pm**  
i sent him a message too but he didn’t answer. he really dislikes his phone.  
 **me 21:39pm**  
but definitely. we’ll think of something else to do soon.  
 **makoto 21:41pm**  
i think he left his phone without charging today…maybe we could have a sleepover?  
 **me 21:41pm**  
sounds great.

***

They were so different, the three of them—

(like roaring flames, steady mountains, and cautious water)

—and everything about each other made perfect sense. 

Not as one, not as a pair, but all three of them together, working in harmony, keeping each other in line, pushing and pulling at the right angles and at the right times, creating a balance that was of utmost importance in their entire friendship. And that—was an incredible feeling that seemed almost mystical.

***

Rin stumbles to bed later that night, face pressed to his pillow, exhausted from all the walking around they did in a day. His eyes open at the sudden constant buzz of his phone and he drags it over closer to his face, unlocking it and viewing the messages that just came in.

**makoto 23:43pm**  
good night rin! i’m so tired orz  
**haru 00:15am**  
I don’t like using my phone  
**haru 00:15am**  
Messag e makoto instead  
**haru 00:15am**  
Makoto  
**haru 00:16am**  
See you

**me 00:16am**  
you’re a mess on the phone? wtf

No reply. Typical.

**me 00:19am**  
see you haru.

Rin goes to sleep with a stupid smile on his face that lasts him well into the morning.


End file.
